December 31, 2011

UFC 141: Brock Lesnar loses, retires and it's probably for the best

At UFC 141, heavyweight Alistair Overeem (36-11, 1-0 UFC) defeated former UFC champion Brock Lesnar (5-3, 4-3 UFC) by technical knockout in the first round. After the bout, Lesnar announced that he was retiring from mixed martial arts. He didn’t say what his future plans were but many fans speculate that he will be returning to pro wrestling.

Standing in the center of the cage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. “Tonight is the last time you will see me in the Octagon," Lesnar said. “I'm here to say that Brock Lesnar has officially retired. I promised my wife, my kids. If I won this fight I'd fight one more time for the title. If I lost, I'd retire.”

It was probably the right decision because during the fight Lesnar once again looked liked a fish out of water in the Octagon. Despite being a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler, Lesnar decided to stand and fight Overeem instead of using he superior wrestling skills.

Overeem kicked Lesnar in the liver and the former UFC champion fell to the canvas and covered up. Overeem followed with several punches and referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the bout at 2:26 of the first round.

At the post-fight press conference Overeem said, “I’m not a guy that believes in superstition stuff, but yesterday I said I would do a liver kick.”

Lesnar told UFC president Dana White after the fight that he believe he has a broken rib.

White said, “We’ll figure it out,” when asked about Lesnar’s contract with the UFC and if he would be allowed to go to WWE if he is still under contract.

In the co-main event, “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (17-4, 4-1 UFC) lost a unanimous decision to Nate Diaz (15-7, 10-5 UFC) in a lightweight bout. It looked to me like Cerrone wasn't fighting to win the bout, but was fighting to win the “Fight of the Night” $75,000 bonus. He seemed to follow the exact game plan of his training partner Leonard Garcia -- standing toe-to-toe and exchanging punches with your opponent. Even though you may be losing the fight, your chance of winning a bonus is greater.

Cerrone talked to mmafighting.com earlier in the week about being broke despite fighting four times this year. He pocketed more than $200,000 in post-fight bonuses alone.

"And it's gone," Cerrone told reporters with a Dennis the Menace grin earlier this week, explaining, "I now own everything I ever wanted."

For three straight rounds, both fighters would do the same thing. Cerrone would land several leg sweeps and Diaz would land many punches to the mouth of Cerrone.

It makes for an entertaining fight, but it's very frustrating for the corner men and fans of the fighters. You know what he needs to do to win, but the fighter chooses otherwise.

The “Knockout of the Night” went to Johny Hendricks (12-1, 7-1 UFC) in a bout before Diaz vs. Cerrone. Only one punch was thrown, a left jab to the jaw of UFC No. 2 welterweight contender Jon Fitch (23-4-1, 16-2-1 UFC). The big overhand left land directly on Fitch’s jaw, knocking him out instantly at 12 seconds of the first round.

Comments

I cannot agree more, Lesnar did the right thing in retiring. He should have lost to Shane Carwin long ago and has been exposed over and over again. The UFC loses a big money draw but still, he hasn't looked good in literally years.

DFW,
I agree with you, some people are born 7 feet tall, it doesn't mean they will be basketball players. Brock has the body of a warrior but not the skills.

all the best to Brock... He was a hard worker, had endurance, but never used real trainers and coaches... only his own entourage which were a bunch of YES MEN.... he needed real MMA coaching to cticique his game... when he first came to MMA, I was like "lookout"... but time showed he didn't grow as an MMA fighter. He's definately one of those "could have been great" if he had better architecture

Troy,
You're totally right. Because he had the money to bring in guys (Yes Men), he wasn't as hungry. He needed to find a school like Black House. He couldn't go to AKA because they have Cain. Jackson has Shane Carwin. Couture had Alistair Overeem.
Kevin

Your reading into Cerrone's performance is fairly bad (obviously Cerrone makes more money, in the long run, by winning fights than by losing dramatically), and your failure to properly quote the article you cited labels you pretty clearly a hack of a writer.

I have seen Cowboy fight many times. I have interviewed him face-to-face twice. That was not a Cowboy performance. That was a Leonard Garcia performance and Cowboy is better than that.
-Kevin aka "Hack"

Your article is dead on correct!! 100 % absolutely right. Thank god that waste of time fake Brock Lesnar is gone. In the end he acted like he was some great legend retiring. 2 faced Dana White didnt even criticize his horrible performance and lack of effort at UFC 141. Brock looked fat and did not even want to fight. He looked so nervous standing in front of overreem.
Dana only invites reporters at the post press conference who he knows will not critique the horrible UFC event.

Cerrone has shown amazing talent so far and at UFC 141 it looked like he 100% threw the fight. There is no way you knock some one down that many times with leg kicks and dont jump on them. He just stood in front of Nate Diaz and took the punches like a punching bag. He didnt even move out of the way or put his hands up or anything. How can you go from performing so good in previous fights to loosing that badly to a punk like nate diaz who has a lower than average UFC record.
The fights seem more and more like they are fixed now adays. Just dont make any sense.

I think a lot of people fail to take into account how much money Brock made during his short 3 year stint in the UFC. I estimate that he made close to $3m not including any PPV cuts, special bonuses, or sponsorships. It's fascinating to see how he compares with other top fighters.

Post a comment

All comments must be approved by the blog author. Please do not resubmit comments if they do not immediately appear. You are not required to use your full name when posting, but you should use a real e-mail address. Comments may be republished in print, but we will not publish your e-mail address. Our full Terms of Service are available here.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

Please enter the letter "o" in the field below:

About the blogger

Kevin Richardson has been a fan of mixed martial arts competition ever since UFC 3, when 600-pound sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough was beaten by Keith Hackney. Kevin will cover the world of MMA — in Baltimore, nationally and internationally. He plans to take readers into the locker rooms and MMA schools, where they'll hear from local fighters and trainers. If you have a news tip or suggestions for the blog, please e-mail him.